Existing power supplies use well-known silicon semiconductors, which work well at temperatures up to approximately 125° C. but silicon semiconductors are ill suited for applications where ambient temperatures are above 125° C. At temperatures over approximately 125° C., charge carriers in silicon leak across P-N junction.
Even at temperatures below 125° C., silicon semiconductors that require high-power dissipation require a heat sink to dissipate heat in order to protect the devices from being damaged. Heat sinks take up space and add weight. Accordingly, there exists a need for a power converter also known as a regulated power supply that is usable in high temperature environments but which is also operable with minimally-sized heat sinks to minimize the volume of the power converter as well as its weight.